Sarah Sung

I’m not sure what’s going on with our weather here, but I’d venture to say that I’m cold about 75% of the day (which comes to about 18 hours, six of which are in bed under lots of covers). I’ve come to accept bundling up when I go outside, but I draw the line at wearing full wintertime gear—a hat, scarf and jacket—when sitting at a table at any given SF restaurant. That’s why I’m echoing Sara D.’s plea in Open-Door Policy:

Since I’ve started working here, I’ve noticed that everything in my life now runs in sevens or multiples of seven, so it’s no surprise that when I sat down to reflect on some of my favorite eats this year (2007—seven, get it?), I came up with… surprise… a list of seven. Here’s the rundown (in no particular order):

1. Strawberry rhubarb crisp at Universal Café—I forgot to take a picture of it before diving in; it was that good.

Aquaculture gets a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason—there’s a lot of sloppy practices out there—but when many fish are becoming commercially depleted to the point of extinction, aquaculture needs to get more consideration. That’s why I was especially intrigued about Kona Blue’s Kona Kampachi®, who’s well-deserved slogans include: “Good for the Ocean. Good for You.” and “Sustainably Delicious.” I’d add: “Kobe beef of the ocean,” based on the care and effort that Kona Blue puts into the kampachi.

I’m loving the organic-seasonal-local trend that’s swept the Bay Area, but I must admit that it perplexes me. Why is this a trend at all? When did we get so far removed from our food and food sources that we now only get a gold star if most of what we eat comes within 100 miles of where we live?

On Saturday, I raced the first annual North Face Endurance Challenge half-marathon. If you saw the elevation chart, or ran the course, you’d probably come to the same conclusion that I did: It was brutal. Anyway, I ended up doing pretty well (2nd for my age group, 5th overall women), so I thought I’d share my post-race celebration meals, which happened to be concentrated in Hayes Valley.

Thanks to the hundreds of you who’ve voted in the annual Reader’s Choice Poll and went the extra mile to back up your nominations with some eloquent turn of phrase. If you missed it (voting closed yesterday), or if you loved it so much that you want to do more, here’s your chance—it’s not too late!

We’ve added five extra questions, included a free-for-all spot for you to input your own category (and nomination) and extended the deadline to December 30.

My three passions in life are, roughly speaking, food, fitness and travel, so it’s no surprise that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Every year, I fly home to Bethesda, Maryland (a DC suburb), run the Turkey Chase 10K race with my brother, then eat lots of turkey, sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie. It’s the best.

Friday was the unveiling of Mint Plaza. Being that it was a busy day for me, I almost skipped the ceremony. But, when I heard there was going to be free Blue Bottle coffee, ‘Wichcraft’s peanut-butter sandwiches and a Gavin appearance, I figured I could squeeze in a visit.

This stretch next to the old Mint on Jessie St., off of Fifth St., is a major improvement over the sketchy alley it once was. Now, sparkly chic and artsy, it’ll attract shoppers from the San Francisco Center and offer green space for the residents of the restored commercial buildings that have been turned into lofts.

It’d been three years since I last had brunch at Slow Club (and wrote about it for SF Station), which makes me feel old because I remember that meal like it was yesterday. So I was happy to go back yesterday and be reassured that—even with a chef change and a few years in between—the food remains as good as ever.